The Night Shift No One Can Cover: Stress-Testing Your Staffing Plan
🧠 Business Continuity Blog — Staffing Continuity Series
💡 It’s 8pm. A night shift staff member calls in sick. Your on-call doesn’t answer. No one else can cover. What happens next?
That’s not just a bad evening — it’s a business continuity failure. And if someone gets harmed, it becomes a safeguarding issue too.
Most services have a plan… on paper. But few have tested whether it works in real life. Let’s fix that.
🔍 1. Choose a Scenario to Test
- What if two key staff are off sick during a weekend?
- What if your sleep-in staff refuses to stay without pay?
- What if your on-call is unavailable and the backup is too new?
Pick a scenario that’s uncomfortable. That’s how you find gaps.
🎭 2. Run a Tabletop Exercise
Gather your management team and ask:
- Who gets the first call?
- What’s the escalation route?
- What’s the last resort?
You’ll be surprised how many assumptions fall apart under pressure — and that’s the point.
📑 3. Update Your Documentation
After testing, tighten up your plan:
- Clarify who holds responsibility for each step
- Add contact details, backup cover options, and limits on overtime
- Record lessons learned in your business continuity log
📣 4. Share With Staff
Staff need to know the plan — not just managers. Use team meetings or newsletters to explain:
- What to do if they’re unwell
- How shifts are covered in emergencies
- How they’ll be supported, not blamed
💡 Pro Tip: Include Safeguarding Scenarios
If staffing drops below safe levels and someone is harmed, that’s a notifiable incident. Include a safeguarding lens in your scenario planning — not just operational risk.
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Updated for Procurement Act 2023 • CQC-aligned • BASE-aligned (where relevant)